Prefabricated wall structure

ABSTRACT

A PREFORMED, HOLLOW WALL UNIT WHICH CAN BE USED AS A STRUCTURAL FROM MEMBER IN A COMPLETED BUILDING, AND A PROCESS FOR MAKING SUCH A WALL UNIT. THE WALL UNIT IN CONSTRUCTED, FOR EXAMPLE, OF CONCRETE AND CAN BE FORMED,   PRE-WIRED, PRE-PLUMBED AND BRICK VENEERED IN A HORIZONTAL POSITION PRIOR TO BEING RAISED INTO THE VERTICAL POSITION.

Mam}! 1971 R. P. WILKINSON 3,566,572

PREFABRI CATED WALL S TRUCTURE Filed Sept. 6, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 32 w" INVENTOR g RUDOLPH P WILKINSON March 1971 R. P. WILKINSON 3,566,572

PREFABRICATED WALL STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 6, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTOR RUDOLPH P. WILKINSON March 1971 R. P. WILKINSON 3,566,572

7 PREFABRICATED WALL STRUCTURE Filed Sept. 6, 1968 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR RUDOLPH P. WILKINSON March 2, 1971 R. P. WILKINSON PREFABRICATED WALL STRUCTURE 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Sept. 6, 1968 INVENTOR RUDOLPH P. WILKINSON March 2, 1971 R. P. WILKINSON PREFABRICATED WALL STRUCTURE 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 Filed Sept. 6. 1968 INVENTOR RUDOLPH E WILKINSON United States Patent 3,566,572 PREFABRICATED WALL STRUCTURE Rudolph Purifoy Wilkinson, 623 Frensley,

Ardmore, Okla. 73401 Filed Sept. 6, 1968, Ser. No. 758,164 Int. Cl. E04b 2/30; E04c 2/06, 2/52 US. Cl. 52-745 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention relates to a construction of prefabricated buildings. More specifically, this invention relates to preplumbed, pre-wired, hollow, brick-veneered wall units for use as structural members in prefabricated buildings.

Lift-up construction is a method of building in which walls are pre-formed in a horizontal position and are raised or lifted to a vertical position at their final site. Buildings presently built by lift-up construction techniques have solid walls. As a consequence, insulation, heating, plumbing and electrical wiring must be added after the building framework is assembled in its vertical position. In addition, present methods of forrm'ng prefabricated walls for lift-up construction do not permit brick veneering. Furthermore, the form members can not be utilized as structural frame members for the finished building.

The present invention is a form of lift-up construction in which insulation, heating ducts, plumbing, and electrical wiring can be assembled within the preformed walls prior to their being lifted to a vertical position at the ultimate construction site. If desired, a brick veneer can be included in the preformed wall. To form a brick veneer wall in accordance with the present invention, bricks are placed in a spacer board and covered with concrete. Support boards are located above the concrete and support a second layer of concrete, thereby forming a hollow wall unit. Heating ducts, plumbing, and electrical wiring are located within the wall before the second concrete layer is poured. Wall units can then be raised and attached to form the finished building.

These and other aspects and advantages of the present invention are apparent in the following detailed description and claims, particularly when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which like parts bear like reference numerals. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a partially exploded perspective view of the principal components used in one form of the present invention suitable for making preformed walls;

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the assembled components of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a cross sectional view along plane 3-3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a cross sectional view along plane 4-4 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a cross sectional view along plane 5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 is a partial cutaway view of a wall unit being lifted into place;

FIG. 7 is a cross sectional view depicting the arrangement of the principal elements in a multi-story building;

FIG. 8 is an outside partial view of two joi ed wall units;

FIG. 9 is an exploded view of the principal components used in another form of the invention suitable for making preformed corner wall units;

See

FIG. 10 is a perspective view of the assembled components of FIG. 9; and

FIG. 11 is a cross sectional view along plane 1111 of FIG. 10.

The wall form mechanism illustrated in FIGS. 1 through 5 includes brick spacing board 20 which is a large flat surface with raised brick spacers '22 defining brick receptacles 24. Spacers 22 and receptacles 24 insure proper alignment of bricks 26 on spacing board 20 to form the desired pattern of bricks. Brick end form members 28 are secured on each ,iend of brick spacing board 20 by suitable means such as bolts 30 which are inserted through holes 32 to extend into end wall members 34. Each end form member 28 includes blocks 36 at the halfbrick locations 38 on the end of spacing bOard 20. An eye bolt 39 extends outwardly from the two centermost blocks 36, away from spacing board 20, and bricks are not inserted into any of the half-brick locations. Head wall member 40 and the foot wall member 42 are secured to the end wall members 34 by suitable means such as countersunk bolts 44 through holes 46.

To form openings in the walls for windows and doors, a brick omission block 48 is placed on brick spacing board 20. Above the brick omission block 48 is placed a framing unit 50 which might be either a window frami g unit or a door framing unit, as desired. Elements 20-50 are assembled, and bricks 26 placed in each brick receptacle 24. Concrete 52 is poured on the bricks 26, and reinforcement rods 54 are placed in the concrete. More concrete is added to fill the spaces between the bricks 26, binding them to the reinforcement rods 54, the head wall member 40, and the foot wall member 42. The concrete 52 is then leveled.

Wall ties 72, vertical reinforcement bars 54 and 92 and supporting boards 62 have been omitted from FIGS. 4 and 5 in the interest of clarity. In 'FIGS. 2 and 4 air conditioning duct 74 extends through the access port 58 and through an opening 68 in the insulating board 66. Duct 74 is suitably secured to duct framing unit 76 and is supported by the duct support board 78. The duct framing unit is covered by cover plate 70. Plumbing pipe 80 is supported by pipe support board 82 so that pipe 80 extends from baseboard access channel 84 through the insualting board 66 at hole framing unit 86. Pipe 80 terminates beneath cover cap 88. As depicted in FIG. 5, electrical fixtures such as outlet box 94 may be pre-wired and fitted into an electrical box 96. The electrical wires 98 then extend through the baseboard access channel 84.

Support boards 56 are inserted through access ports 58 in the head wall member 40 and the foot wall member 42. The support boards 56 are held firmly in place by wedge blocks 60. Support boards 62 are inserted through the access ports 64 in the end wall members 34. An insulating board 66 is placed above the support boards 62. Insulating board 66 includes openings such as opening 68 to accommodate framing unit 50, heat duct framing cover 70, and plumbing and electrical conduits. Wall tie bars 72 are inserted through the insulating board 66 into the concrete 52 in the outer chamber of the hollow wall. The top chamber of the wall form mechanism is then filled with concrete 90, and reinforcement bars 92 are placed in the concrete. The concrete is then leveled and allowed to harden. When the concrete is hard, the wedge blocks 60 are removed, allowing the withdrawal of support boards 56 and 62. After the concrete has hardened and the wall has been erected, the final electrical connections can be made through the baseboard access channel 84.

Once each wall section has hardened, it is lifted to its vertical position by means such as a crane, as depicted in FIG. 6. The wall sections are positioned on wall guide bars 100 which are suitably secured in a level position to foundation 102, as shown in FIG. 7. Brick spacing board 20 is removed, leaving a framed brick veneer hollow insulated wall 104. For interior building walls on which no bricks are required, a plane spacing board is utilized, and the concrete is poured directly on the board, providing a hollow concrete wall such as interior wall 106. Pipes 82, air conditioner ducts 74, and anchor bolts 108 extend upward from the foundation 10.2 through access ports 110 in the wall guide bars 100. The pre-formed, pre-wired, and pre-plumbed hollow walls 104 and 106 are aligned in vertical positions above the wiring and plumbing elements extending upward from the foundation 102 and are lowered into their final position so that access ports 110 in wall guide bars 100 correspond with access ports 58. The plumbing, heating, and wiring elements from foundation 102 are then joined to their proper counterparts in the walls 104 and 106, and nuts 111 are tightened on bolts 108, firmly securing the wall units in place. This joining of the plumbing, heating and wiring is accomplished through baseboard access channels 84. When all the proper connections are made, baseboards 112 are suitably secured to the walls covering the access channels 84.

The foot wall members 42 fit above the wall guide bars 100 and are parallel to them. With the foot wall members 42 level and in their final position, the walls 104 and 106 are in a vertical position. In multi-story con struction the head wall member 40 also serves as the wall guide bar for the wall and floor elements immediately above.

When the walls are in their final position, eye bolts 39 of the adjacent brick end form members 28 are in adjacent positions, as shown in FIG. 8. Turnbuckles 114 are inserted through the adjacent eye bolts 39 and are tightened to secure adjacent wall sections. Once the walls are secured, bricks, suitably shaped, are placed within the openings to cover the turnbuckles and eye bolts and to cover the wall jointsv The form members used to form corner wall sections are depicted in FIGS. 9, 10, and 11. Each brick corner end form member 116 includes openings 118 to permit concrete to be poured into the outer chamber of the Corner form unit. The vertical corner member 120 has notches 122 which permit concrete to be poured into the upper chamber of the hollow wall. The upper and lower chambers are separated by insulating boards 124 which are held in place by insulating supports 126 and a collapsible support 128. Corner head wall member 130 and corner foot wall member 132 complete the unit. When the concrete hardens, the collapsible supports 128 are collapsed and withdrawn from the wall leaving a hollowwalled corner unit ready to be lifted into place.

Although the present invention has been described with reference to preferred embodiments, obviously numerous changes and modifications in the form, construction, arrangement, and combination of the several parts of the lift-up building can be made and substituted for those herein shown and described without departing from the nature, scope, and principle of the invention.

What is claimed is:

1. A process of forming a building structure wall unit comprising the steps of:

(a) assembling a double Wall forming member includ- 5 ing a horizontal spacing board and relatively thin vertical wall members, each wall member having access openings intermediate its height;

(b) covering the spacing board with concrete to bind together the spacing board and the vertical Wall members into a first wallportion;

(0) inserting support boards through said access openings into said wall'forming member to extend beyond the wall members and spaced above the concrete;

(d) wedging said support boards against vertical movement;

(e) placing a horizontal insulating board upon said support boards;

(f) covering the insulating board with concrete to bind together the insulatory board and the vertical wall members into a second wall portion spaced above said first wall portion; and

(g) permitting the concrete to harden.

2. The process of claim 1 further comprising the step of placing bricks in a pre-arranged pattern on said spacing board prior to step (b).

3. The process of claim 2 further comprising the step of placing an omission block in said wall forming unit prior to placement of bricks therein to form an opening in the wall.

4. The process of claim 1 further comprising the step of inserting reinforcement rods into the concrete before hardening.

5. The process of claim 4 further comprising the step of inserting tie bars into the concrete to join the first and second wall portions.

6. The process of claim 5 further comprising the step of locating heating ducts, plumbing pipes and electrical cables above said first wall portion prior to step (f).

7. The process of claim 6 further comprising the steps of lifting the wall unit into a vertically disposed orientation, positioning the wall unit on a foundation having heating and plumbing connections corresponding to said heating ducts and plumbing pipes, bolting the wall unit to the foundation, connecting the heating and plumbing con nections to the corresponding heating ducts and plumbing pipes, and removing the spacing board.

8. The process of claim 7 in which at least a portion of said wall members include eye bolts extending out- 'wardly away from and parallel with the plane of said spacing board and further comprising the steps of inserting turnbuckles into adjacent eye bolts of adjacent wall units, tightening the turnbuckle to secure the adjacent units, and covering the turnbuckles to complete the brick pattern.

9. The process of claim 8 in which the wall unit is placed upon a previously installed wall unit to form a multi-story building.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,362,069 12/1920 Witzer 52-745 1,562,707 11/1925 Lake 264253 1,809,504 6/1931 Carvel 52-745 2,413,990 1/1947 Muntz 52584 2,611,262 9/1952 Dodson et a1. 52584 2,630,615 3/1953 Moore 264-253 2,825,221 3/1958 Brouk 264261 FOREIGN PATENTS 147,328 6/1949 Australia 264256 HENRY C. SUTHERLAND, Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

